England’s National Gallery is unveiling a new machine which will allow visitors to make instant prints of any of thousands of paintings in the museum’s collection,in multiple sizes. The technology is not photographic, but digital, and the images produced are much more faithful to the original colors and textures of the works than a photographic print could ever be. And that’s what makes it so disconcerting, says James Fenton. “The fact of the matter is that, the more you study the history of art, the more you are likely to use photographs. Even when you… make a conscious effort to memorise a painting as it is when seen in natural light, there will be other paintings and other artists’ work that get stored in your mind through acquaintance with photographs.”